It goes without saying that when diamond shopping, there isn't anyone that wants to appear like a total tool, and they all want to receive the best bang for their buck. We should face it right now, even if you get the deal of a lifetime, diamonds are not cheap. Of all the most cherished stones, they are by far the most expensive on the market, and they are also the stones that are held to the highest requirements as far as stone goes.

When exposing a big rock with pride on your wrist, neck, or ear lobe, of course you want it to sparkle and shine as much as possible. That's where the 4 C's will come in. They are cut, color, clarity and carat. Let's go take a look at each in much more detail.

Cut refers to the actual cut of the stone, it is not the general shape of the rock, such as round or princess, which is what the term is far too often employed to mean. Now, you need to understnd, diamonds are removed from the ground as raw, unrefined stones, which are shapped a whole lot like a piece of gravel from your drive. These are next cut down the finished product you will see using a large set of rounding turn-tables. The higher quality of the cut, the better the angels will be, and the more light it will reflect back to the viewer's eye in the form of glisten.

Color is the color of the rock. A diamond that has a poor color will appear to have a amber tint, where as a genuinely perfect stone is 'colorless'. When shopping, you will see that these are rated on an alphabetical coloring system, starting at the letter D. The grades D, E and F are all considered to be perfectly colorless for all circumstances, with D having the least color of all.

Clarity refers to the number of flaws in the diamond, which are fair pieces of minerals that were trapped inside the stone when it was formed. The clearer the diamond, the more appealing it will seem to the naked eye.

Carat goes without saying what it is. This is simply diamond's size, measured by weight. The larger the carat number, the bigger the rock.

Author: Alberto Maeses

About the author:
This article was written by Alberto Maeses, a certified diamontologist and author. Please see religious jewelry

Article source: Free Jewelry Articles.